


You make the best of a bad deal

by Marieke_things_dreams_and_stuff



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex is off saving the day, And Will Always Help Her Out, Angst with a Happy Ending, Argo Fever discussion, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fix-It, Flu, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Krypton, Lena Luthor Loves Kara Danvers, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Protective Alex Danvers, Protective Lena Luthor, Protective Older Sibling Alex Danvers, Sick Kara Danvers, Sickfic, Soft Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Soft Lena Luthor, Stubborn Kara Danvers, Supergirl (TV 2015) Season 5, and Lena steps up, argo fever, there's just a lot of love here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26431321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marieke_things_dreams_and_stuff/pseuds/Marieke_things_dreams_and_stuff
Summary: Post Season 5 finale.Kara and Lena have patched things up but things are still a little awkward between them. When Kara suddenly gets sick and Alex is unable to take care of her, however, it’s up to Lena to step up and prove she’s really there for Kara. While they tentatively try to keep the peace and work together, the many challenges the situation presents make both of them wonder if they can make it through the night together.A story for @karasluthqr
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 39
Kudos: 870





	You make the best of a bad deal

“Alex, I swear I’m fine! I’m completely –”

Kara cut herself off when she felt the unfamiliar grumbling of her stomach, her food suddenly uncomfortable in its place.

Alex’s eyes widened for a brief instant before she shoved a wastebasket in Kara’s arms just in time for her to throw up her dinner.

While Kara objectively knew that throwing up wasn’t the worst thing in the world _per se_ , but at that moment when her delicious potstickers were so viciously expelled from her stomach, her body vehemently disagreed.

There was _nothing_ worse than this feeling.

The blood rushed to her head, tears prickled in her eyes, and her throat burned from the disgusting acids that had come up with her food.

She needed a full minute to regain her bearings, Alex rubbing a comforting hand over her back while she tried to control her breathing.

“You,” Alex said – somewhat superfluously – after the worst of Kara’s puking was over, “are not fine.”

Kara wanted to retort with something snappy, but the cold chills that ran down her spine and the disgusting taste of bile in her mouth made it hard to think.

“I don’t have time to not be fine,” she managed to choke out after a while, hands still clutching the bin like her life – if not the squeaky-clean floor of Lena’s lab – depended on it.

“I have an article to write, we still don’t know what Lex is doing, and we need to figure out what Andrea’s whole deal is.”

“It can wait,” Alex said resolutely. “As your doctor, I’m going to have to insist you stay in bed for the time being.”

“Well as your patient,” Kara said, mirroring Alex’s tone, “I’m going to need you to reconsider because I am fine.”

She tried to lift herself off the operating table but had miscalculated how much weight her arms could bear now that she wasn’t a fully functioning superhero anymore. She yelped, her arm slipping off the table and taking her body with it. Before she could land on the white tiles in a potentially very grizzly fall, however, Alex caught her. 

“Kara!” Alex admonished her, once she’d steadied her sister.

Kara clutched one of Alex’s upper arms tightly as she was carefully pushed back on the table. The world slowly stopped spinning.

“This is exactly what I’m saying! You’re not fine!”

“But – ”

“No buts, Kara!”

Kara shut her mouth.

“I’ll just have to take off work the next few days and stick out this flu with you.”

“What?” Kara exclaimed, suddenly forgetting all about her nausea. “You can’t do that! You have a girlfriend! And work! And I don’t need to be supervised!”

“Kara, you’re out of powers!”

“So?” Kara shot back.

“So – so you’re incapable of taking care of yourself!”

“Oh please, I’m an adult, Alex. People on this planet walk around with no powers every day!” Kara argued. “I’m sure I can manage just one tiny measly day without my powers. Even if I’m feeling a little queasy.”

“Queasy,” Alex deadpanned, folding her arms across her chest.

“Yes, queasy,” Kara shot back. “And I’ll have you know that I – ”

She paused when she felt her stomach protest. She grabbed hold of the bin again, praying she wouldn’t have to go through the misery of throwing up again. Alex immediately moved to pull Kara’s hair behind her head in a messy bun.

“Breathe, Kara,” she commanded softly.

Kara clenched her eyes shut and let out a few shuddering breaths, Alex’s strong hands on her shoulders.

She counted. One deep breath. Two deep breaths… In and out until her stomach calmed down just a little.

Rao, she hated this feeling. She hated that it felt like her stomach was fighting against her. She hated that she felt uncomfortable and weird and just _gross._

She didn’t like it one bit.

“Kara,” Alex tried, a bit softer than before. “The last time you were really sick, you were a child on Krypton. You’ve never had to take care of yourself. I just want to make sure you’ll be alright.”

She pressed a tiny kiss to the crown of Kara’s head.

“I want to make sure you’re safe and healthy, and I can only do that when I’m around you.”

“I can take care of myself!” Kara insisted, gently pulling her head away from Alex, who sighed.

“Do you even have painkillers at home?” she asked impatiently.

Kara bit her tongue and turned away from Alex, a little undignified.

“Do you have a thermometer?”

Kara pouted.

“Do you know what to do when you throw up in the middle of the night when you’ve just taken some painkillers?”

“I’m sure I’ll figure it out,” Kara said. “Google exists for a reason.”

“You’re just proving my point!” Alex said throwing up her hands. “This is what I mean! You’re not used to being sick, so you need someone by your side! God!”

Alex ran a hand through her short hair. “We have had this conversation so many times before. Like, literally every single time you’ve blown out your powers.”

“Alex – ”

“You don’t know how to function without your powers, Kara!” Alex interrupted her. “I wouldn’t trust you to boil water by yourself!”

Alex took the bin from Kara’s hands and turned the corner to quickly rinse it out.

“So I’m not used to being sick – so what!” Kara shouted so Alex could hear her from around the corner. “I’m fine. I’ll just buy some food and go to bed.”

For a second she thought the determined tone in her voice might be enough to persuade Alex to let her go home alone. Alex was quiet when she walked back in with a clean bin and with what Kara hoped to be a contemplative look in her eyes. When Alex looked up though, handing Kara the bin back – which she took with greedy hands – something changed. Alex’s lips pursed and her eyes narrowed, and Kara knew she’d lost the fight.

Kara sighed deeply, and let herself fall pack against the pillows propped up against the headboard of the makeshift hospital bed. 

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she grumbled. “I’m fine.”

“Who’s thinking of becoming a babysitter?”

Kara jumped up at the sound of Lena’s voice.

She hadn’t even heard her come in. Without her superhearing, she hadn’t been able to tune into the soundless sliding of the doors and the rhythmical ticking of Lena’s heels on the floor’s white tiles. She’d only been focused on Alex.

“Lena!” she said flushed. “You’re here!”

She inwardly cringed at her opening sentence. Five years of friendship, and now Kara didn’t even know how to greet her own best friend anymore.

Lena put her bag down and took out some files.

“Eh, yeah,” she shot Kara a smile. “It’s still my lab, right?”

“Right,” Kara blushed and quickly looked down. “Of course.”

She tried to think of something else to say, but she came up short. She heard Alex mutter a quick hello to Lena and exchange general niceties, but she tuned them out. It wasn’t like they’d say anything of actual importance. All of their exchanges with Lena had been so empty lately, void of anything substantial. 

Things had just been so _awkward_ lately.

Kara knew she couldn’t have expected everything to go right back to normal after they’d worked together to defeat Leviathan, but still. Why did it feel like they were still on opposite sides sometimes? Why did it feel like they barely knew each other?

“So what was that about a babysitter?” Lena asked gently.

“Oh well Kara here,” Alex gestured to Kara who shot her a displeased look, “went and blew out her powers.”

“Oh my God,” Lena exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine – ”

“She’s not fine!” Alex interjected. “She’s white as a sheet, has cold chills and headaches, her temp’s 101.2 degrees, and she’s been throwing up all morning!”

“Way to make me sound like an invalid,” Kara grumbled, but she couldn’t stay mad for long.

“That’s terrible!” Lena quickly walked over to Kara, who instinctively sat up straighter. “How is that even possible?”

Lena scanned Kara’s face with concerned eyes, taking in the strands of hair sticking to the sides of her face, the dark bags under her eyes and the undoubtedly alarming absence of color in her face.

“Overexposure to Kryptonite, overexertion,” Alex counted, flipping through the pages of Kara’s handwritten medical file.

She looked up.

“Personally, I think it was inevitable,” she stated, to which Kara rolled her eyes. “Kara’s been working long hours as Supergirl and has been patrolling the city non-stop. Combine that with her recent injuries in the field and – ”

Alex clacked her tongue.

“You have one sick Kryptonian.”

“I’m sitting right here, you know,” Kara deadpanned.

“You know, Lena,” Alex said, eyeing Kara with a dangerously smug glint in her eyes. “Maybe you can convince Kara to accept some help. She’s adamant that she can handle this whole thing all by herself. She won’t let me take care of her.”

“Kara!” Lena said. “You should listen to your sister. This isn’t a normal reaction,” she pressed. “You should have someone keep an eye on you, just in case something goes wrong.”

“I, eh,” Kara paused.

She found it a lot harder to tell Lena to leave her alone. Alex was kind of used to it after years of living together.

“… but I feel fine,” she protested weakly.

“Honey,” Lena said, “not to sound like a total bitch, but you _really_ don’t look fine.”

“See,” Alex said, distracted by the buzzing in the pocket of her jeans. “Listen to the Luthor.”

She fished her phone out of her pocket and with an apologetic look, excused herself from Lena and Kara.

“Danvers,” she said, walking away.

Kara turned back to Lena, who suddenly seemed to sit pretty close to Kara.

Lena seemed to notice that too. With an awkward laugh, she stood up from the lab chair next to Kara.

“You should listen to your sister,” she smiled tightly. “You shouldn’t turn away her help. Trust me,” she tilted her head. “Being sick sucks, but being sick by yourself – ”

She shook her head.

“That’s a whole other level of misery. Enjoy the soup and the free medical care while you can.” She shrugged and smiled. “It’s not so bad having people fuss over you.”

Kara couldn’t help but nod.

“Okay.”

Lena smiled and went over her work again.

“Bad news,” Alex walked over briskly, wasting no words. “There’s an alien attack over at Pender Street. Dreamer and J’onn are already there, but I need to be there to coordinate arrests and the clean-up.”

“Do they know what kind of alien it is yet?” Lena asked quickly. “Do you need anything from the lab?”

“No,” Alex shook her head, collecting her things. “Containment won’t be too complicated. Getting the people there to safety, however – ”

She sighed.

“That’ll be a different matter altogether.”

“I’ll help,” Kara decided, pulling the blanket off her legs. “You need me.”

“No,” Alex interjected quickly. “Kara!”

“That really doesn’t sound like a good idea – ”

Kara ignored their concerns and swung her legs firmly over the edge of the table – and almost immediately felt so light-headed she saw black spots appear in front of her eyes.

Alex’s strong hands on her upper arms kept her from sliding off the table.

Again.

Kara would’ve felt bad about it if she didn’t suddenly feel so damn weak. Like her bones had turned into jelly, and she was suddenly so light she could bounce away after a single push. The pressure in her head had escalated with her sudden move, and she felt a pounding pressure behind her eyes, like blood thumping too hard against the brittle confines of her veins.

“Hey,” Alex said, trying to catch Kara’s gaze. “Hey.”

“Mmmh,” Kara hummed, opening her eyes back up with great difficulty.

“Look at me.”

Kara groaned but looked up at Alex.

“The plans haven’t changed,” Alex implored softly. “You’re still going home. I’ll call Kelly. Or maybe mom, if she can come over. I’m not letting you wander the city when you’re like this. You got me? You’re getting worse.”

Kara felt too dizzy to protest. Also, she felt like her current state would kind of prove the opposite of the point she was trying to make.

“M’okay,” she sighed, her eyebrows scrunching together. “Fine.”

Alex nodded and stroked her hair back.

“Okay. Okay. Let me think. If I call mom, she’ll be here in a couple of hours, but maybe if I can get Kelly to come over to your apartment right now, she might be able to stay until – ”

“I can do it.”

Alex and Kara both turned their heads.

Lena was standing over at her desk, arms crossed over her chest – almost defensively.

“You want to stay with Kara while she’s sick?” Alex clarified.

“Of course I do,” Lena said. Kara could almost feel some frustration in her voice, like she was annoyed – or maybe even a little hurt – that Alex hadn’t even considered her for the job.

“Unless,” Lena turned to Kara, suddenly much more insecure. “Would you… rather wait for Kelly to come over?”

“No,” Kara said quickly – too quickly. “Eh, no, that’s fine. I don’t mind you helping out.”

She cursed herself for her own awkwardness. This was Lena. Her friend Lena. She could do this. She could handle this. They were friends. They’d saved each other from near-apocalypses and murderers. Surely they could see each other through a weak, little flu case. Right?

Alex blinked.

“Eh, great,” she regained her bearings. “Fine. Great. Kara has no meds at home though.”

“Good thing I own a lab then,” Lena shot back dryly.

“Right,” Alex said awkwardly “That’s… yeah. I’ll just… head out then.”

“Okay,” Kara shot her a weak smile. “Be careful out there.”

Alex nodded. “You got it.”

She stepped closer and kissed Kara’s forehead.

“Get better quickly, okay?” she whispered against her head.

Kara smiled. “Say hi to Nia for me.”

“Will do,” Alex smiled and leaned back. “Luthor!”

Lena looked up.

“Take good care of her, alright? Call me if you need me.”

Lena smiled softly. “We’ll be fine, Alex, I promise. You go and save the city.”

Alex smiled tightly, before shooting Kara one last worried look.

“I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

With a final grateful ‘thank you’ aimed Lena’s way, and a vague air-kiss/ weak wave thrown Kara’s way, Alex slipped out the door and left.

Kara and Lena sat alone in the lab for a few seconds, almost surprised by the sudden silence that replaced Alex’s presence. Like they both didn’t know what was supposed to happen next.

“Well alright then,” Lena spoke up. “You ready to go somewhere that isn’t this lab?”

Kara smiled. “You have no idea,” she said gratefully.

Kara wanted to stand up, but given her recent history with trying to make any sudden moves, she thought against it. Luckily, Lena seemed to be on the same page.

She rounded the corner of the bed and showed up beside Kara.

“I’ll help,” she said softly. “May I?”

Kara nodded quickly.

“Sure,” she mumbled.

Lena’s arm wrapped around her waist, which allowed Kara to sling an arm around Lena’s shoulders.

Kara took a deep breath before pushing herself off the bed, supported by Lena.

She instantly felt her head cloud up, the pressure behind her eyes intensifying, while the world spun around her.

“I’ve got you,” Lena implored. “Come on, it’s not far. My car’s parked right outside. Deep breaths. We’ve got this.”

Kara nodded and shot Lena a grateful smile, though she worried that in her state it looked more like a pitiful mockery of a madwoman’s grin than anything else.

With tiny steps and lots of encouragement on Lena’s part, they finally made it into the parking garage, and stopped right in front of a sleek, black Mercedes.

“Oh no,” Kara shook her head. “That’s not going to work.”

“What?” Lena asked confused. “Why not?”

“Your car looks way too nice. I can’t take the risk! I might barf on your fancy leather seats!”

Lena shook her head and suppressed a grin. “I’ll take the risk.”

“Seriously,” Kara protested. “We should just take the bus!”

“Darling,” Lena deadpanned, “you look like you’re about five seconds away from passing out right here in this garage. And despite my extensive morning yoga routine, I’m not sure I’ve built up enough muscle power to drag you all the way to the bus stop outside.”

Kara pouted and Lena laughed.

“Come on,” she said, gently pulling Kara towards the car. “I promise I won’t get mad if you ruin my fancy seats.”

She carefully posed Kara against the side of the car and went to open the door to the passenger’s side.

“I’ll just make you pay for the cleaners.”

Kara scoffed.

“Oh, ha ha, Lena,” she said dryly, and Lena chuckled, helping Kara in the car.

“Let’s just get you home.”

* * *

Things had rapidly gotten worse on the drive home.

Kara felt lightheaded and queasy, and just the thought of having to climb up the stairs to her apartment made her head explode.

Lena had definitely noticed Kara’s deteriorating state. Kara couldn’t barely keep up the conversation, drifting away in her own pain, barely able to keep her eyes open. Lena kept shooting worried glances Kara’s way, and her knuckles were stark white against the steering wheel, as if she thought holding it tightly would somehow get them home quicker.

Lena daftly maneuvered through the inner city’s bustling traffic, careful not to make her turns too sharp or her stops too sudden so Kara wouldn’t get sicker.

Normally, Kara could go on and on about Lena’s expensive taste and her inability to commit to a price tag under a thousand dollars, but for once she was glad Lena wouldn’t go for the cheap option. She was so relieved Lena had opted to buy the expensive, soft-motored car that could practically float through traffic without a ruse, no matter the dingy asphalt roads near Kara’s apartment. She’d been slightly miffed by Lena’s refusal to take the bus, but just the idea of being in a bumpy metal box that stopped at every turn and was filled with all kinds of different people made her stomach jump up in uncomfortable ways.

She was grateful for Lena’s love for expensive cars.

She’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts and the growing pain in her head that she hadn’t even noticed the car come to a stop. She’d barely registered the familiar houses and shops near her apartment, hadn’t made the connection at all.

She looked over at Lena who smiled softly.

“Home.”

* * *

To Lena’s credit, she didn’t complain once during their climb up the stairs.

Lena had to practically drag Kara up with her, Kara leaning on her so heavily it was a miracle her knees hadn’t given in. But Lena didn’t make a sound. Her breaths were shallow and her heart was probably racing, but she refused to let Kara walk by herself.

They were both grateful when they finally closed Kara’s front door behind them.

Kara was the first to go down. Her knees buckled and her head was just pounding, and she couldn’t handle it. She slid down against the door and put her head between her knees.

“Jesus, Kara, are you okay?” Lena asked, crouching down beside her.

Kara couldn’t speak and just shook her head.

She felt Lena’s cool hand come up to touch her forehead.

“Shit,” Lena cursed softly. “You’re burning up.”

Kara made a pained sound. She felt so uncomfortable in her own body. Everything ached, and it was too hot, and her stomach felt like it just got twisted into a thousand individual knots.

Kara let out a low grown.

“What do you need, Kara? What can I do?”

Kara could barely think before her stomach clenched in the now-familiar feeling of powerlessness. Her eyes widened and she panicked.

Kara couldn’t speak, she just scrambled up on her feet, ignoring the angry, shooting pains in her head that followed with it, and ran to the bathroom. She fell to her knees on the small tiles, bemoaning the bruises she’d definitely see there in the following days, and only just managed to find the toilet in time for her to throw up.

How her stomach even held enough for her to have something to vomit up after the morning she had was beyond her.

Her fingers clenched around the toilet seat. Tears jumped in her eyes at the burning sensation in her throat, and Kara couldn’t help but feel utterly and completely miserable. The one time, the one day she didn’t have powers, and she just had to contract a virus. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t _fucking_ fair.

Through her hurling and painful moaning, she almost didn’t hear the door creak open a little further. She only noticed Lena’s presence when graceful fingers dexterously gathered her hair into a makeshift ponytail and wiped the stray hairs away from her face.

Kara wanted to thank her, but another wave of bile prevented her from saying a word.

Kara felt tears roll down her cheeks, and she hated herself for it.

People got sick every day with touches of flu, cases of pneumonia, headaches, migraines, and illnesses so awful it left them hospitalized for days, and she was complaining? Over a little bug? But Rao if she couldn’t help feeling so terrible and so disgusting, wasting away in her bathroom with Lena behind her.

Kara didn’t know if Lena could see her tears from where she was sitting, or if she just felt like something was wrong, but Lena passed Kara’s ponytail to her left hand and used her other hand to rub soothing circles on Kara’s back. The strong scent of Lena’s perfume washed over Kara, and it awakened some dormant part of her brain that associated the scent with some peace. Quiet nights on the couch with Lena, game nights, family dinners. Getting home just in time to find Lena waiting by her door with a bottle of wine and endless office gossip to share.

The scent was familiar and calmed Kara down at least a little bit. But it also made her a little more aware of her surroundings and Lena’s close proximity to her own body while she was hunched over a freaking toilet.

Kara would die of humiliation if the flu didn’t get her.

“You can go,” she croaked, her voice temporarily ruined. “I can manage from now on.”

“Absolutely not,” Lena said resolutely, her hand rubbing tighter circles.

“Come on, Lena,” Kara whined pathetically, closing her eyes as she rested her head against the cool ceramic pot. “This is literally so disgusting. You should go.”

“Oh come on, Kara! This is hardly the first time I’ve been around puking people!”

Kara cringed.

“It’s gross, Lena. I don’t want you to – ”

“Okay,” Lena said icily. “If you really think that I’m the kind of person who would leave their best friend to rot on their bathroom floor in their time of need, then you really don’t know me at all, Kara Danvers. I’m staying.”

“It’s gross, Lena,” Kara whined. “You – ”

“I don’t dispute that,” Lena cut Kara off. “But I’m also well aware that I’m a scientist. I literally deal with human bodies on the regular, and that doesn’t always include the neat, fun stuff.”

“Gross,” Kara mumbled.

“But first and foremost,” Lena interjected, “I’m your _friend_. And no matter how gross or unsanitary and disgusting things get – ”

Kara felt Lena shudder.

“I’m not bailing. I won’t.”

Kara sighed.

“Also I promised your sister, and I’m only 45% sure she won’t really kill me if she finds out I left you all by yourself like this. I don’t like those odds.”

Kara half-smiled against her cool ceramic toilet.

“Yeah, I’m not pumped about those numbers either.”

“Exactly,” Lena said sharply. “So how about you stop complaining and just let me sit here with you, and let me take care of you, and hold your hair while you puke? It would make both of our lives a lot easier.”

Kara sighed, but couldn’t help the spark of warmth inside.

“Okay,” she mumbled.

“Thank you,” Lena snipped. “Now keep still. I don’t want your hair to get anywhere near your mouth. _That_ would be gross.”

Kara suppressed a smile.

“Yes, Miss Luthor,” she answered mockingly, the sarcasm getting slightly lost in her hoarse voice.

Lena only clacked her tongue in response.

They stayed on the floor for a while, but Kara couldn’t tell how long. She could only count her tentative breaths, the shallow intakes of oxygen as she worried her stomach could lunge up at any time. Lena’s hand stayed on her back, absentmindedly stroking some comfort in an uneven rhythm on Kara’s back.

Lena was the first to break the silence.

“You haven’t thrown up in a while,” she said gently. “Think the worst has passed?”

“I don’t know,” Kara groaned softly. “I don’t want to jinx it.”

Lena let out a short breathy laugh.

“That’s fair,” she whispered. “But just in case, let’s get you cleaned up, okay?”

Kara nodded against the toilet.

“Okay. Washcloths?”

“Under the sink,” Kara muttered.

Kara heard the water run for a brief moment, before a hand gently tugged on her shoulder.

She turned around and opened her eyes.

How Lena could’ve spent such a long time sitting on her knees on a cold bathroom floor and still look like she just ran off the runway was beyond Kara. Her black hair was still perfectly slicked back over her shoulder, her pinstriped suit still as crisp as ever, and her red lipstick perfectly unmuddied.

Her green eyes seemed four shades darker in contrast to the white walls around her. It only added to the magical quality of her appearance, and Kara was suddenly reminded of how gorgeous Lena was.

It was honestly a little baffling. And only kind of bad for her self-esteem.

“May I?” Lena asked, carefully bringing the cold cloth up to Kara’s face.

Kara nodded.

“Please,” she said hoarsely.

A small smile played around Lena’s lips and she carefully started wiping away at Kara’s face.

Kara was only a little caught up in the way Lena’s eyes followed the cloth’s trajectory across Kara’s mouth and lower face, and the way her eyes were almost certainly glued to her lips. It only just occurred to her that her face must look pretty gross after what her day had been like.

“You don’t actually have to – ”

“Kara, if you tell me you can do it yourself and that you’ll be fine, I swear I’m going to lose my shit.”

Lena said it so calmly, without stopping what she was doing for even a second, that Kara let out a surprised little laugh.

The sound made Lena’s eyes flit upwards until they locked with Kara’s. Kara’s laughter immediately died down. Lena’s eyebrows scrunched up though, and she gingerly brought the washcloth upwards to the corners of Kara’s eyes.

Kara didn’t even realize what Lena was doing until she felt the wet cloth gingerly wipe away the dried tracks her tears had left behind.

“Oh sweetie,” Lena said empathetically, her thumb tracing unwittingly over Kara’s cheeks as she moved the cloth.

“I’m fine,” Kara said instinctively. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve thrown up, okay? It caught me by surprise.”

Lena hummed, but she didn’t sound all too convinced.

“I swear! I just forgot how awful it felt,” Kara said defensively. “I can’t believe humans go through this so often.”

“But you’ve felt like this before,” Lena stated.

“I mean… yes.”

Lena’s eyebrows scrunched up as she wiped around Kara’s mouth again.

“I didn’t think your powers allowed you to get sick.”

“I didn’t have powers on Krypton,” Kara reminded her. “By all accounts, I was as much of a humanoid as you, with similar illnesses and ailments.”

She stopped talking, and Lena stopped asking.

Krypton was a non-conversational topic between the two of them. All references to alien nature and extra-curricular heroic activities were off the table for them.

It’s not like Kara minded talking about Krypton – she’d learned long ago that talking about it to Alex was sort of therapeutic, and kept the memory of her family and friends alive. But with Lena, the situation was different.

Lena had befriended Kara. The human version of the girl she knew. She’d mostly just tolerated Supergirl. And while Kara and Lena had made up in the classical sense, there was still a huge distance between them that could only be crossed little by little. Inch by miserable inch. And in Kara’s mind, it could only be bridged if they didn’t talk about the alien elephant in the room.

If they kept it human, so to speak.

Kara almost held her breath as she waited for Lena to say something. To change the topic. Did she have to change the topic herself? How could she even do that? Her mind felt too heavy, the pain in her head too strong for her to think of anything to say. But she really wanted – needed – to get rid of the awkward silence hanging above them like –

“I always thought Kryptonians were too advanced to still have to deal with things like a simple flu,” Lena said casually.

Well Kara hadn’t seen that coming. She blinked for a bit, trying to come up with a good response, while Lena still dutifully spent her time wiping Kara’s face clean. When Lena’s eyes stayed focused on the task at hand, and didn’t try to stare deep into Kara’s own again, Kara could breathe a little easier. She thought she might be able to explain, as long as she didn’t feel scrutinized by Lena’s confusingly entrancing eyes.

“We were,” Kara said hesitantly after a beat, “but we couldn’t eradicate diseases altogether.”

Lena hummed, her washcloth tracing Kara’s jawline.

“Viruses and diseases do tend to mutate and adapt.”

“Right,” Kara said slowly. “So while we were generally pretty good at averting illnesses, our advanced science didn’t exempt us from dealing with some pretty horrible diseases.”

Lena hummed. “So you’ve been sick before on Krypton.”

Kara’s mouth twitched.

“I’ve had everything from a light headache to a debilitating disease, sure.”

Lena’s eyes flitted upwards.

“Debilitating disease?” 

Kara nodded. “The worst disease I ever encountered that truly devastated Krypton. We called it the Argo fever.”

The name alone felt heavy to Kara. Something so old she hadn’t thought about in so long. Krypton’s last tragedy before its destruction.

“I got it when I was ten. I think it originated in a different city first, but it spread to Argo pretty quickly. Hence the name,” she muttered.

Lena waited for a second, before she broke the quiet.

“What was that like?” she asked carefully.

“Kind of like the flu but worse,” Kara said. “Highly contagious and pretty lethal. Especially amongst kids. My dad was one of the scientists who found a vaccine for it.”

Lena’s forehead creased.

“And you had it?”

Kara nodded softly.

Lena’s washcloth rested on Kara’s right cheek. The cold brought some relief to Kara’s cheeks, which felt glowing hot. Kara could almost imagine them sizzling out thanks to Lena’s washcloth.

“Was it like this?” Lena asked gently. “The Argo Fever?”

Kara shrugged. 

“I guess. I remember a lot of throwing up and getting awful headaches. But that was just in the beginning. I don’t really remember much of what it was like after, cause I was pretty out of it for most of it.”

“Because it was so long ago?”

Kara shook her head.

Lena frowned. “How so then?”

Kara took a deep breath. The conversation, however horrid the topic, helped ground her at least a little. She could focus on something else besides the horrible thumping pain behind her eyes, and her unpredictable stomach.

“Well my fever kept climbing,” Kara explained. “Just like it did with a lot of other kids my age. I was basically unconscious for over a week. My mom had a hard time getting me to eat or drink anything. I was too weak. I barely remember anything from that time. It’s all fuzzy.”

Kara thought she remembered Astra and her mother sitting together by her bed in a rare moment of peace where they weren’t at each other’s throats. Astra pacing around the room while her mom just held her little hand. Kara couldn’t be sure whether it was an actual memory or a fever dream, but she treasured the image so much that she’d held onto it over the years.

“That’s horrible,” Lena said softly. “I’m so sorry, Kara.”

Kara shrugged.

“I got better. A lot of people didn’t. A lot of kids I knew didn’t. The adults’ fevers usually broke a lot sooner than it did with us kids. After a while, they just became too weak and died.”

“Oh God,” Lena whispered. “Did you know kids who died?”

Kara nodded.

“Everyone did. It was a big scar in the face of Krypton’s history. We were always regarded as being elitist or arrogant because of our advanced science, yet we couldn’t figure out how to save our own children.”

A shiver ran down her spine. Kara couldn’t tell whether it was from the cold seeping through her bones or the awful memories of sitting by her bedroom window and seeing hundreds of tiny, individual funeral pods getting launched into the sky, mingling with the stars above.

She shook her head, forcing the image out of her head.

She suddenly felt too uncomfortable laying Krypton’s history so bare for Lena to discover, on her bathroom floor no less. Kara wasn’t a big believer in traditions anymore, but she did consider the need for a little more decorum when talking about the dead.

“What’s done is done,” she said simply. “I survived. So this little flu,” she gestured vaguely around her, “ – should not keep me down.”

“Kara – ”

Kara waved Lena’s concerns away.

Against all better judgment, and while ignoring the alarmed look in Lena’s eyes, Kara forced herself to get back on her feet. She’d been confined to the bathroom for far too long. It was insane.

She was Supergirl. She was Kara Zor-El, daughter of a renowned scientist and a respected magistrate. She was the longest-working assistant under Cat Grant. She was a survivor, a hero, and a freaking Paragon of Hope. She would not be kept down by a little flu bug.

At least that’s what she thought.

The seconds she stood upright, a spell of dizziness kept her at a tryst with gravity as her knees buckled and the world started to spin around her. Her eyes closed instinctively when the rush of blood to her head was so intense, so ruthless, that it made the pain in her head explode. It felt like something was trying to break out from within her skull.

Kara tried to reach her arms out to catch something to steady her but couldn’t keep herself from tilting sideways. Kara blindly tried to take another step when she inevitably lost her balance and found herself crashing to the ground.

Or at least, that’s what she expected to happen.

Kara’s knees gave out, she braced herself for the inevitable pain – and then she was jerked upright. She could vaguely hear a wet washcloth hitting the floor, and right before she could hit the floor along with it, Lena’s arms had wrapped themselves around her waist.

Lena pulled her close to her own body so that Kara’s back collided with her front.

Kara groaned as the movement caught up with her head and the pain increased.

“Shh,” Lena whispered soothingly, carefully lowering the both of them back down to the floor. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Kara could only moan in pain, tears clinging to her whimpers.

“Why can’t I stand up? Lena?”

She didn’t mean to sound so scared and pitiful – like a child, she’d scold herself later – but the sudden thought that she couldn’t do anything anymore – she couldn’t fly, she couldn’t go home alone and now she couldn’t walk? It all became too much.

“You can,” Lena assured her, running a hand through Kara’s hair. “You can, darling, I promise. You just tried to go too fast. Let’s just go slow, okay? Let’s take a breather.”

“I can’t,” Kara forced out. “I have to – ”

“You don’t have to do a thing,” Lena said resolutely. “All you need to do is calm down. Just take a minute, Kara.”

“I can’t stay sick, Lena. People rely on me,” she insisted. “I need to get better and I need to get my powers back! This is nothing, this is stupid! I can’t just stay here.”

“You’re right on one account,” Lena said. “You need to focus on getting better. But it won’t happen if you run around frantically and try to do everything by yourself! Just let me take care of you!”

“I don’t want you taking care of me!”

Kara felt Lena go stiff against her, and she immediately regretted the words that had come out of her mouth.

“Lena,” she whispered.

She wanted to turn around, to try and face Lena and hope to make it right, but Lena didn’t let her move. Frustratingly, without her powers and suffering from the flu, Kara found that Lena was a lot stronger than she was. Her arms were wrapped tightly around Kara’s waist and didn’t budge for a second. It wasn’t painful, but it definitely kept her from trying to do something Lena found foolish, like trying to stand up too fast.

“Why?” Lena asked simply. “Because you don’t trust me?”

“No,” Kara whispered, dropping her shoulders.

She felt her body go slack in Lena’s arms, unable to get out of her grip, resigning herself to her fate.

“Because I hurt you?” Lena asked, quieter, more resigned.

“No.”

“Because I used Kryptonite on you?”

“No, Lena – ”

“Then what, Kara?” Lena said, a hint of frustration lacing her tone. “Do you not feel safe around me? Are you scared I’ll hurt you? Or – ”

“I’m scared this is all temporary!”

Lena paused.

“What?” she asked confused.

Kara shook her head and willed herself not to let her tears fall.

“We’ve done this before, Lena,” she managed to say. “We’ve talked and we’ve made up, and then you’ll change your mind and you’ll get mad and you’ll leave me alone again.”

She didn’t wait for Lena to respond.

“We’re talking now, but then you’re going to go home and we’ll do this whole routine again where we can’t talk to each other without flinching.”

She shook her head.

“We can barely look each other in the eye, and you being here for one minute before going away again – ”

She took a deep breath.

“I can’t do that again, Lena,” Kara whispered. “Not with you. So I’d rather you just leave me alone and let me go over everything so I don’t have to worry about you turning your back on me when I don’t expect it!”

The words were out before she could think of anything else to say.

Kara wished she could blame her honesty on her fever and the pain in her head that rendered her unable to even come up with a lie to tell in the first place. But now the words were out and she couldn’t take them back.

And Lena was still sitting behind her.

She didn’t know whether to feel grateful she had her back turned to Lena and couldn’t see her friend’s face. Did she look angry? Was she hurt? Was she going to stand up and leave?

Kara didn’t know. She didn’t want to know.

When Lena didn’t speak for what felt like an eternity, Kara let out a shuddering breath. Though the fever and the pain in her head clouded most of her thinking, she couldn’t help but wonder whether that was it. The end of the line for them. Kara had said something so honest, it could never be forgotten. Something that would always remain a stain on their relationship.

In a brief moment of what she could only call resigned clarity, Kara leaned back and felt her head come to rest on Lena’s shoulder.

She didn’t know what to say, so she let her eyes close once more, and hoped Lena wouldn’t push her away – at least not yet.

She was so tired and so hurt, and she just needed… she just needed a break. She needed things to not be bad for just one short moment. So as long as Lena wouldn’t push her away just yet, as long as she wouldn’t stand up briskly and run out the door, Kara would stay there. She would let herself rest against Lena, and she would relish in every last second of it.

And against all her expectations, Lena didn’t move away. She didn’t say anything either, and her body had tensed up a little, but that was okay. Kara could feel Lena around her, surrounding her. Her warm breath that grazed Kara’s neck and would’ve left goosebumps if her temperature wasn’t running wild. The long fingers digging into her belly. The whisk of hair that tickled Kara’s bare shoulder. And when Lena slowly, almost tentatively closed the distance between their heads by the most minimal distance possible, Kara could feel the brush of Lena’s soft cheek against her own.

“I’m sorry,” Kara whispered.

She was so close to Lena that the words felt surprisingly intimate – even in the cold bathroom. In her head, Kara could feel the words drift along Lena’s cheek, clinging to her friend’s skin like invisible ink.

Her head hurt so much she struggled to keep a grip on the situation, her eyes barely able to stay open. Lena’s scent was so comforting, and she was so soft. The world didn’t spin as much when Lena was holding her. There was just pain, and heat, and Lena.

But before she could freeze to the floor and stay stuck in her bathroom forever, Lena’s warm hands left her stomach, immediately inviting an almost painful cold in Kara’s body. She shivered. But Lena’s hands didn’t leave her body; they slid upwards until they squeezed Kara’s upper arms gently.

Warm lips hovered just millimeters away from Kara’s ear.

There was no emotional outburst. No rejection, no anger.

Just a simple:

“Let’s get you to bed.”

Lena stood up and gently helped Kara to her feet as well. A steady hand on her back, and a careful one tugging her up, and Kara was standing up. Her head was pounding, and the sudden shift from sitting on the floor to standing up in the cold airflow of the room made Kara’s body tremble like a leaf.

Lena noticed and never stopped helping Kara. She slowly guided Kara out of the room, wrapping her arm around her waist like she’d done when they’d first left Lena’s lab.

That felt like so long ago.

Kara couldn’t remember how she got to her bedroom – she vaguely recalled blindly patting the walls to find her way, with Lena’s soft voice guiding her and her elegant hands steadying her. Once they got there, Lena gently helped her out of her dirty clothes – Kara didn’t even want to think about how horrible they must look after the day she’d had.

She didn’t feel embarrassed under Lena’s gaze, even if she was dressed in cotton panty briefs and a simple bra. She was shaking too much to care, and could barely stay conscious.

All she knew was that one minute she was cold and shivering in her bedroom, arms clutched around herself like she would freeze to death if she dropped them. The next, soft hands gently guided her into her own bed and pulled heavenly thick, warm blankets over her.

Kara almost cried in relief, when her throbbing head was finally – finally – put on a pillow, and not tormented by her every single move. But still, it _hurt_ so much.

“Lena,” she managed to say.

Her voice was scratchy and so quiet she had to repeat herself.

“I’m here, Kara,” Lena whispered back, and Kara could feel her squeeze her hand.

“M-my head,” she choked out. “Lena, it hurts so much.”

Tears of pain and frustration gathered in her eyes, but she was in too much pain to give a damn. Lena had already seen her at her very worst, who the hell cared about some tears at this point?

“It hurts so much,” she gasped painfully.

“Okay, okay,” Lena said hurriedly, running a hand through Kara’s increasingly damp locks. “Let me think, let me – I got it!”

Kara’s body twisted uncomfortably under the sheets, stretching out her limbs to find a position that could alleviate some of the pain coursing through her body. It didn’t help. Kara squirmed and moaned, clenching her eyes shut to keep the pounding inside.

Moments later, a fresh wet washcloth was carefully draped over her eyes.

Kara’s breath stocked when the cold stole a little of the pain, leaving just the tiniest bit of comfort behind.

“Lena?” Kara asked.

Her hand blindly patted along her blanket until it was covered by Lena’s.

“Right here, Kara. I’m right here.”

Kara let out a relieved sob.

“It hurts so much,” she whispered.

“I know,” Lena whispered. “I know, Kara, and I am so sorry you feel this way. I’m going to fix it. I’m going to help you, okay?”

“How has it gotten worse?” Kara asked. “I feel awful.”

“I know, darling, I know.”

The defeat in Lena’s voice felt tangible. Her hand squeezed tighter around Kara’s.

“It’s going to be okay, Kara.”

Kara wanted to reply, but the cold water seeped through the washcloth in a way that numbed the pounding in her head just the tiniest bit. The darkness and the warmth of the blanket seemed to finally pull Kara under, and drowsiness overtook her.

She could vaguely hear Lena call out her name, but by then, Kara was already too far gone, grateful for the sleep that finally offered some reprieve from the pain.

* * *

Kara’s sleep wasn’t undisturbed.

She woke up several times over the unintelligible passing of hours (days?), and each time, she only caught glimpses of the things around her.

The first time she was woken up by Lena, who was gently tapping her shoulder.

“What?” Kara asked groggily, flinching away from the pain of opening her eyes.

Her curtains were closed, blocking out most of the sunlight from outside, but Lena’s silhouette was clearly outlined by the light streaming out from the living room.

“Kara?” Lena said gently. “I got you some crackers and something to make you sleep better.”

“I’m not hungry,” Kara whined. “And I was sleeping.”

“I know,” Lena said hastily before Kara could fall asleep on her, “but this’ll take away the pain.”

Kara did perk up at that.

She carefully brought a trembling arm out from under the covers and reached out her hand.

“No, Kara, you can only have these after you eat something. They’re pretty strong,” Lena said apologetically.

But just the thought of eating literally _anything_ made Kara’s stomach turn.

“Lena – ”

“Please, Kara,” Lena begged softly. “For me?”

Kara looked at Lena’s worried face, the stress lines on her forehead – the ones Kara used to sometimes trace with a finger, back when she still muttered comments about how Lena should work less. Back when Lena would roll her eyes, catch Kara’s fingers, and tell her not to worry.

She was worried now. Lena was stressed, she was scared, and she was trying.

So Kara braced herself and pulled herself up just enough for Lena to quickly steady her.

The mattress dipped when Lena sat down next to Kara. She handed her a tiny plate with three dry crackers on it. Disgusting, multigrain, fat-free, unsalted crackers.

“Where did you get these?” Kara asked because there was no way in hell she’d bought those for herself.

Lena looked a little guilty.

“I sent my driver on a little trip around town.”

“For crackers?”

Lena looked down.

“Amongst other things. Some meds, maybe a magazine or two,” she admitted. “… Perhaps some files for me to work on.”

Kara opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. She gave up on trying to have a real conversation when sleep was pulling her down, so she instead picked up one of the gross crackers and started nibbling on it.

Surprisingly, her stomach managed to keep the tiny crumbs down – at least for the time being – and Kara watched as Lena looked more and more relieved with each bite.

Kara managed to eat almost two whole crackers before she felt she was testing her luck a bit too much, and gave up.

Lena didn’t say anything or urge her to eat more, and instead gently handed her a cool glass of water.

“Tiny sips,” she reminded Kara, and put a large pill in her outstretched hand.

When Kara had swallowed the pill, Lena took the glass, and let Kara fall back on her mattress. Lena gathered the things she’d brought from the kitchen and tried to quietly slip out of the bedroom when Kara spoke up.

“When’s Alex coming?” she asked sleepily.

Lena jumped a little, the plate knocking against the glass just the tiniest bit. Lena turned in the door opening.

“She’s being held up downtown,” Lena admitted. “So it might take a while for her to get here.”

“Oh.”

“But don’t worry,” Lena said quickly. “She’ll be here as soon as she can.”

Kara didn’t know if she believed her, so she pulled up her blanket over her chin and waited for Lena to leave. Lena stayed longer than Kara had expected, because only after a few long, deep breaths did Kara finally hear the curtain separating her bedroom from her living room be drawn. The light cut off again, Kara fell back asleep.

* * *

The second time she woke up, it was because of Lena again.

Kara woke up to the sound of arguing.

She lifted her head, not quite sure whether she was dreaming or conscious. She was too drowsy to tell. Her head felt heavy – not quite as painful as before, but not quite right either. It felt fuzzy.

Lena was on the phone with someone and spoke with hushed, angry tones.

“You need to be here! You told me to call if she wasn’t okay, and I’m calling! She is not okay! She’s barely eaten anything all day, and it’s a miracle she’s managed to keep her painkillers down.”

The person on the other end of the line spoke, but Kara couldn't make out what they were saying. Only that it upset Lena even further.

“Of course I’m staying!” she exclaimed in angry whisper-tones. “Though to be fair here, the fact that you think I would leave her like this is fucking despicable. No, spare me your apologies,” Lena added icily. “Just get here.”

Kara didn’t know who had to get there, but she didn’t quite care enough to fight her urge to sleep over it.

She was asleep before her head could even hit the pillow again.

The third time, it was her bladder that woke Kara up.

Groggily, she kicked off her blanket that felt suffocatingly hot all of a sudden, and swung her legs over her bed. On shaky legs, with all the confidence of a thoroughly drugged mind, she pulled herself through her quiet apartment, past the darkened living room – what time was it even? – and to the bathroom. She had to lean heavily on the wall to guide her to her bathroom, but all in all, it was a more successful attempt than when she’d tried to stand up by herself with Lena in the bathroom earlier.

Lena.

Kara’s apartment was dark. There was no one in the bathroom, nor her living room… 

Lena must’ve left, Kara mused. Truthfully, she didn’t know how to feel about that. A quiet part of her mind whispered she’d expected this. But still… the worried look Kara had seen in Lena’s eyes, the willingness to give her crackers, to hold her hair back when she threw up…

Maybe she’d expected too much.

Kara shook her head and stumbled back to her room when she heard a quiet noise from her couch. Her head snapped up, and she peered through the darkness trying to spot whether she was dealing with a robber, a gigantic spider (she didn’t know whether or not those made noises, but she didn’t want to find out either) or a supernatural killer. But all she found was a dark lump on her couch.

Kara took a careful step closer and saw a pale hand sticking out from under a pillow, still clutching a phone that buzzed intermittently.

 _Lena_.

She was snoring softly on the couch, her face obscured by her black hair that had found its way over her eyes. One of her black heels had been dropped to the floor, while the other dangled precariously from Lena’s other foot.

Lena looked cramped up and uncomfortable on Kara’s lumpy, old couch. She was used to bouncy mattresses with high thread-count sheets and soft, neck-supporting pillows. Yet here she was, lying on Kara’s couch with a frown on her face like she was arguing in her sleep – something Kara thought was pretty likely – just for Kara.

Kara, barely able to support herself on her way to her bedroom, smiled. She smiled, even though her head hurt, and she felt cold again. She crawled back into bed, feeling much lighter than before.

The night went on like that.

Kara woke up intermittently, often because Lena was up too. She heard Lena pace around, calling people Kara didn’t know or couldn’t distinguish from her bedroom. Lena argued, Lena rummaged through the kitchen, and Lena did things that Kara couldn’t see or understand.

What she could understand, was the sudden reappearance of the horrid headaches that she’d been spared from for just a few quiet hours.

The pain came back with a vengeance, taking Kara so by surprise, that it rendered her almost unable to breathe. She clutched her head and sat up straight, mouth falling open in a wordless scream.

“Lena,” she managed to choke out. “Lena!”

She feared her voice was too scratchy, too thin to reach Lena asleep on the couch. Her fears were quickly abated when she heard loud footsteps stomping through her living room. The curtain was swept aside, and Lena ran in, hair in a very un-Lena like tangled heap on her head, her beautiful blouse crumpled from her nap on the couch.

“Kara?” she asked, making her way over to the bed.

Kara could only point at her head and Lena understood. She took a quick glance at the clock and nodded to herself.

“I’ll get you another one,” she promised.

She handed Kara a pill and a glass of water. Kara gulped the water down greedily, clutching the deliciously cold glass with both hands. Her arms trembled from the effort.

Lena wordlessly took the glass as Kara sank back against her pillows.

“Better?” Lena asked softly.

Kara nodded, though she felt absolutely abysmal. No use in making Lena feel bad about her inability to change anything, Kara thought.

“Thanks,” she whispered hoarsely.

“No problem,” Lena said softly, before moving to get up.

“Wait!”

Lena turned back to Kara with a start.

“What? Are you okay? Are you dizzy? Do you need to throw up?”

Lena seemed to become more alert with each suggestion, already scanning the room for something to use as a makeshift wastebasket.

“No, s’just…”

Kara paused, suddenly afraid she’d sound like a child. On the other hand, she felt awful. Downright miserable. She wanted – she needed…

“Is Alex coming home soon? Is she almost done?”

Lena’s face fell, giving Kara her answer.

“Darling – ”

“Why isn’t she here yet?” Kara asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

Rationally, she knew this illness was nothing. She’d get over it, she just needed to get it out of her system. The puking, the headaches… they’d all pass. Yet, her rationality meant nothing in the face of the sudden loneliness and the urge she felt to be comforted by someone she loved.

Lena’s words about going through an illness alone seemed to ring true.

Kara wanted her sister. She wanted someone she could depend on to love her, to stay with her and to be there for her.

Kara didn’t know she was crying until she saw the panic in Lena’s eyes.

“Don’t cry! Oh Kara!”

She awkwardly went to sit on Kara’s bed, hands flailing helplessly around Kara’s head.

“It’s going to be fine! I promise! She just got held up!”

Kara tried to wipe her tears away, but her hands trembled, and the tears kept rolling.

“Darling – ”

“I’m just tired,” Kara choked out, but it didn’t convince Lena.

Lena took Kara’s hand in hers and without thinking and brushed Kara’s hair away from her forehead.

Kara froze.

Lena’s hand was on her face, cupping her cheek, and for just a moment, Kara forgot about her sadness. Lena was so close, and her hand felt cool from the glass of water. It felt so comfortable, so strange and familiar at the same time.

“It’s going to be alright,” Lena promised, seemingly unaware of the turmoil in Kara’s head. “It’s going to be fine.”

Kara jerkily nodded, eyes wet with tears. She knew things wouldn’t be alright until Alex got there. Until her sister was there to be with her and –

“Hey,” Lena whispered. “Don’t do that. Don’t turn away. Please.”

Kara looked up at her through wet eyelashes, and she saw something soften in Lena’s face.

“She’ll be right here, okay?” Lena implored. “She just got a little held up. Right?”

Kara nodded.

“Take a deep breath for me, please?”

Kara did. And again, and again. Until her breathing grew a little steadier, and her tears slowly stopped coming. Lena’s hand stayed on her cheek. Her other hand stayed on her hand.

Kara didn’t want her to move.

The sadness and the exhaustion took a bit of a toll on her, and she relaxed her muscles with a quiet groan.

“That’s it,” Lena said with a soft smile. “Just a few deep breaths.”

Her thumb stroked over the back of Kara’s hand with quiet reassurance. Kara didn’t quite know what to do, but she hoped Lena would keep doing that for just a while longer – just a second longer.

She craved the comfort in a way she didn’t understand at all, but couldn’t find it in herself to care. As long as Lena continued for just a second longer.

Kara kept looking at Lena through lidded eyes. Every time she closed them, it became harder to open them. Her eyelids grew heavier, and her own breathing became slower. Lena’s thumb kept stroking her hand, while her other hand rested on Kara’s cheek like she had something to prove.

Kara hoped and wished on every star she could name that she would stay like that for just a while longer.

* * *

She only woke up for a brief, groggy second in the middle of the night. A car alarm had gone off in the street. It only lasted a short minute, but it was enough to rouse her from her sleep.

She opened her eyes to find her dark room illuminated by a few streetlights. Lena must’ve opened the bedroom window at some point to get some fresh air. Still, Kara couldn’t make out much, her eyes unaccustomed to the dark. The only thing she could see, though, the one person that stood out in the dark, illuminated by the last flickering light outside Kara’s apartment, was Lena.

She was leaning against the headboard of Kara’s bed, legs stretched out on Kara’s duvet, her mouth half-open. She was deep asleep. She looked soft and unburdened, her face devoid of the frown Kara had spotted earlier.

The woman seemed perfectly at ease against Kara’s headboard, like she’d never consider moving anywhere else.

What surprised Kara the most though, was that she couldn’t pull back her hand. She lifted her head just a little to see what was wrong and found that her hand was nestled comfortably in Lena’s lap, held in both of Lena’s hands like a little wounded bird. Warm, comfortable. _Safe._

Kara couldn’t fully process everything, sleep flickering on the edges of her vision, but she could feel the warmth radiating from Lena, getting transferred from Lena’s body to her own, and it was enough.

Kara slept all through the night.

* * *

Kara woke up late the next morning.

She blinked slowly, taking in the warm sunny glow illuminating her room. The culprit was easily found. Her curtains, which had let in the streetlight that night – she vaguely recalled – were open. Morning light and the morning sounds – cars and people passing by – slowly filtered into the room and Kara relaxed.

She realized why.

Her head felt clear. Painless. There was no throbbing, no pounding, no hurting – just peace. And she was hungry! Her stomach growled, and Kara sympathized. After only having eaten those terrible crackers yesterday, she was starving! Oh, the thought of going out into the street and going down to the Pastry store not three blocks away from her, where she always got an extra croissant from the old lady behind the counter – oh that would be heavenly!

Kara started salivating at the thought.

She stretched her arms and –

She stretched her arms. She could move freely. Her hand wasn’t stuck in someone else’s.

Her happiness evaporated immediately. Lena wasn’t holding her hand anymore.

With a sigh, she turned around – and found that she couldn’t. Something was stuck behind her, making it impossible for her to turn around.

Kara couldn’t for the life of her figure out what it could be, so she had to sneak a peek. She craned her neck and looked behind her.

And there Lena was, sleeping behind Kara on the duvet. She was still in her suit, though her jacket had been discarded way earlier on. She was lying behind Kara, almost cupping her perfectly, one arm thrown over Kara’s waist. She was still sleeping, lips pouted softly, a little blot of red lipstick smeared over the corner of her mouth, and some mascara spilled under her eyes.

She looked beautiful! So very unadulterated, perfectly Lena.

Lena had stayed the night.

Kara could finally place the warm, comforting feeling she’d felt when she woke up.

Lena was there. Lena was there!

Kara smiled so wide she had to bite her lip.

Lena was there. With her.

Lena’s head moved; she rubbed her nose against the pillow before her. Her breathing changed a little, from the steady deep breaths to a quicker irregular pace.

Kara felt almost a little sad to see that Lena go. So calm and warm behind her. So pretty in her defenselessness.

Lena opened her eyes and blinked. Her eyes focused, and she looked at Kara.

“Morning,” she said, and Kara’s heart made a little jump at the sound of that husky morning voice.

“Morning,” she beamed.

A slow smile spread across Lena’s tired face.

“So,” she said after a while. “I’m guessing you’re feeling better?”

“Much,” Kara grinned.

Lena moved back a bit so Kara could turn around to face her.

Kara couldn’t stop smiling. She tried, she really did. She didn’t want to come off like a total creep, but _Rao_! Her pain was gone, her hunger had returned, and Lena had stayed. Lena was there, smiling at her with slow-blinking eyes, tired and happy and so very real.

“Good,” she smiled back.

She felt no awkwardness whatsoever, lying next to Lena. All she really felt was a deep feeling of peace. Of comfortable rest. Like both of them had needed this quiet time away from the real world.

They heard a soft buzz coming from underneath Lena’s pillow, and Lena groaned. She closed her eyes briefly, and fished the phone out, unlocking the screen.

“Mission over. Coming back to the city now. How’s Kara?” Lena read aloud. She raised her eyebrows. “What should I say? Do I text her to come over?”

“Tell her I feel better,” Kara said quickly. “She doesn’t need to come over!”

Lena shot Kara a smile that bordered on a smirk. She dutifully texted back the answer before Kara could decipher it.

“So,” Lena said after she’d slid the phone back underneath the pillow. “No more throwing up?”

Kara shook her head.

“No more headaches?”

“Not a one.”

“That’s great, Kara,” Lena smiled. Her smile was softer this time. “Lucky you! Only twenty-four hours of misery! Most people suffer for much longer.”

“I don’t think I would’ve survived another day of that,” Kara said honestly.

Lena chuckled.

“You’ll take it easy today?” she asked.

“As long as taking it easy involves breakfast that isn’t two disgusting crackers, I’m all for it.”

Lena let out a short, breathy laugh that made Kara feel all sorts of things she didn’t have a name for.

“So I’m guessing you can fix that breakfast all by yourself now, huh?” Lena smiled softly. “No need for me to gather your crackers for you anymore.”

“I mean I could,” Kara said, “but I think it would be better if someone stayed with me for a bit. These diseases have a tendency to flare up, you know? Better to have someone around in case it comes back.”

The small smile on Lena’s face turned into a broad grin.

“Oh yeah,” Lena said seriously, trying – and failing – to school her expression. “Those diseases are the worst. You might feel better now, but who knows what the next hours will bring!”

Kara grinned and bit her lip.

“So what do you say?” she asked nervously, her heart beating a little faster.

“Well,” Lena said mock-contemplatively, “I guess it couldn’t hurt to stay a little longer. Like a day or two. Just to make sure you’re really back to your old self. Don’t you think?”

“Absolutely,” Kara beamed.

Lena smiled and let her hand run up Kara’s arm.

“Then I’ll stay. It’s the responsible thing to do,” she raised her eyebrow.

Kara smiled.

Then Lena groaned, closed her eyes, and pulled on of Kara’s neatly stacked blankets at her feet ungracefully over her body.

“But first, I’m going to need some more sleep. This night was absolute _hell_ ,” Lena moaned. “I was so stressed out! I’m going to need to sleep for like a thousand years to come back from this.”

Kara giggled and snuggled a little closer to Lena, who wrapped her arm tighter around Kara.

“Sounds good to me,” she whispered. 

Lena kissed Kara’s forehead blindly and sighed happily.

Breakfast could wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!!
> 
> Thank you for reading! Hope you all enjoyed it! This is a story for @Karasluthqr that I absolutely loved to write! I'm happy with the result and wanted to share it with all of you!
> 
> Please let me know what you think, either here in the comments or on Let me know what you all thought here or on [my Tumblr!](https://thingsanddreamsandstuff.tumblr.com)  
> If you'd like a personalized story as well, check out the pinned post on [my blog!](https://thingsanddreamsandstuff.tumblr.com)  
> Hope you're all doing okay! Lots of love and stay safe!!!


End file.
